


Field Trips are Worse than Hydra

by Singing_Siren



Series: The Silver Spider [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Flash Thompson Bullies Peter Parker, Gen, Hydra Peter Parker, Peter Acts Like a Spider, Peter Parker's Field Trip to Stark Industries, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Has A Heart, an au of my earlier fic, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-01-31 15:50:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21448729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Singing_Siren/pseuds/Singing_Siren
Summary: Peter’s identity is never revealed (Chapter Five of Return to Normal). Instead, his teacher announces a field trip. Guess where to?Or an AU of my own fic where Flash never reveals Peter's identity but he still has the same background and trauma. (You don't have to read the original, but it may be confusing if you don't)
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Natasha Romanov, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: The Silver Spider [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1405399
Comments: 33
Kudos: 458





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> New story? Hope y'all like it ;)

It was his third day of school, Wednesday. The day before, he had freaked out over a little rain, made himself look weak to his classmates and Tony. Oh yeah, and he still hadn’t told his family about the last trigger stuck in his head.

Flash had teased him. Peter had let him, because he deserved it, no matter how stupid Flash was. He retreated to his first period, headphones dangling from his neck. 

Ned calmed him down. Ned had always helped, something he had missed while in Hydra’s base. All it took was a warm hand on his shoulder. His heart stopped trying to break out of his chest, and the burning of his fangs retreated back into a dull throb.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

Ned nodded. Class started, the bell pierced his head like a knife, but Ned moved his desk next to his, and everything was alright.

Until AP Chemistry, his sixth period.

Mr. Cobwell stood at the front of the class, arms crossed and jaw set. The students tensed.

“Next Monday, we will be going on a field trip,” he said, voice low. The students perked up at that, eyes wide and mouths opened to question for more information. “You will each get your permission slips signed before Friday, or you will not be able to go. Any questions?”

Peter blinked, his face blank as the others’ hands shot up. As far as he knew, field trips meant trouble.

“Where are we going?” Cindy asked, excitement clear in her voice.

This time Mr. Cobwell couldn’t help but smile, just the slight uptick of his lips.

“Stark Industries.”

The room erupted.

Peter didn’t move, even as Flash turned back to sneer at him. He blocked out the taunts. What was he going to do?

His breathing laboured. His heart skipped a beat in his chest, and his vision swam. Maybe he could- no. Not at school, not in front of everybody. But all he had to do was ask Ned to say the name, then everything would be okay. But Tony would be disappointed.

The rest of the day was a blur.

-+-

“So, Spider-Man, what did you learn from your little adventure yesterday?”

Peter said nothing, shoulders set and jaw tight. He visibly flinched at the title.

“Alright then. I will tell you. You learned that, even as useless as you are, you serve a purpose. That purpose is to serve Hydra. Is that correct?” Glas stepped closer to Peter, made his breath flutter.

“Yes, sir.”

-+-

“Hey, kid, you alright?”

He stopped fidgeting with the scrap metal in his hands. His eyes were still glazed.

“Did you have a bad day?” Tony asked, voice soft.

He grunted.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Tony,” he started, desperation forcing its way into his voice, “I need to tell you something.”

Tony moved to sit in front of him, the wheels on his chair creaking. “Of course, Peter.”

“I- I think one of my triggers is still active. And I know- I know. After what happened last time, I should have told you, but it hurt so bad last time, and I didn’t want to go through that again, but now I know I need to.”

“Oh, Pete,” he sighed.

“I’m sorry, I swear. It’s just- I almost did it on purpose, earlier today. There was an announcement at school, and I freaked out. I know I should be better than this, but it’s hard, Tony, so hard.” Tears pooled in his eyes. His throat caught. “Dad, I need help.”

“I know, bud, just take a deep breath.” He breathed in and out, emphasized his actions until Peter copied him. “We can deal with this. Thank you for telling me.” The rush of emotions at the name gathered in his chest, but he pushed it back.

He pulled Peter into his lap, stroked his fingers through his hair and held him close to his chest.

“We’ll work this out.”

-+-

Peter looked up at the man in front of him with his mouth set in a grim line. He didn’t make eye contact. He could smell something familiar, but he disregarded it immediately.  _ It wasn’t the time to let your memories control you _ , Glas said in his head.  _ You need to sit up straight and keep quiet. _

“Peter?”

He flinched. It must have been a test. Nobody called him that anymore. He couldn’t respond, couldn’t show that he recognised the name. So, he kept his head level and blinked against the light streaming in from the now open door.

“He won’t respond, you know,” Glas said breathily. Peter heard the tightening of ropes and almost furrowed his brow in confusion. Almost. “We’ve trained him better than that. He knows who he is now, who he’s always been. Spider-Man, come untie me.”

Peter, through his confusion at the situation, stood. He pushed past the man in front of him and moved to where he could hear Glas breathing. He kneeled, not meeting the eyes of those watching him. Before he could rip the ropes, someone seized his arm and tried to pull him back. Peter didn’t budge. He reached for the material binding Glas to the floor again.

“Spider-Man,” a new voice commanded. “Stop. Stand up and approach me.” Peter froze. He didn’t recognise the voice, but they used his title, so they must be his superior, right?

He vaguely heard the others around him speaking, but he didn’t pay them any attention. He sat there in front of Glas, hands hovered above the rope.

“Come here, boy,” the same voice said, leaving no room for argument. He stood and moved to the woman that commanded his presence. “Look me in the eyes. Now, Spider-Man.” His hesitation disappeared, and he lifted his head to see green eyes and red hair.

“Yes, Ma’am. What would you like me to do, Ma’am?” His voice was steady.

-+-

“I don’t want to go back under, Bruce. I can’t do it again.”

Bruce paused in his pacing. He frowned. “There could be another way, but I’d have to get in touch with some people. Are you okay with waiting a couple of days, Peter?”

He looked up with wide eyes. “Does this mean I don’t have to go through that again? If so, I can wait as long as you want.”

Bruce grinned, “Great. Let me call them now. See you for dinner?”

“Of course.”

Down in the lab, Tony put his head in his hands.

Pepper walked slowly towards him, letting him know where she was. She hopped up onto the table and let her legs swing.

“What’s wrong, Tony?”

“Pep, he-” he sighed. “Peter called me Dad.” He looked up from his hands, tear tracks clear on his face. “And he didn’t tell us that one of his triggers is still working. I don’t know what to do, Pepper.”

She took his hands in hers. “Slow down, Tony. First, that’s amazing. How do you feel about him calling you that?”

“I don’t- I think I’m happy, but it’s too overshadowed by my  _ fear _ . What if he hadn’t told me that he still has a trigger active? What if somebody found out? I can’t deal with that again, not now, not when he finally trusts me enough to call me  _ Dad _ .”

“Okay, so what are we doing about it?”

“ _ We _ ?”

“Yes, we. I love him too, Tony.”

“Oh,” he smiled wide. “We’re going to get Hydra out of his head once and for all, for good this time. Bruce is meeting with him now. He should have a solution by tomorrow.”

“Good. Now go be with your boy, Tony. He needs you.”

-+-

Gwen and Harry were his lifeline in the facility. He would have died without them. The talks they shared through the walls of their cells kept him from going mad. 

He needed them.

So when Glas put a gun to his head and called him  _ Spider-Man _ in that gravelly voice, a piece of him broke. Stallard killed them, his only lifeline left. He watched them struggle at first, but then they met his eyes.

_ It’s okay _ , they said.  _ You’ll be okay, Silver. _

Then Stallard fired, and his world ended.

-+-

Natasha cornered him before dinner.

“I know about the field trip,” she said, low enough for only Peter to hear.

His eyes widened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“Okay,” he said as his face fell. “You got me. Are you going to tell Tony?” He pouted, lifted his hands to his chin in his best puppy dog impression.

She didn’t respond, didn’t change her expression.

“Peter, Nat! Dinner time!” Steve called from the kitchen.

“Well,” he gestured in Steve’s direction, “we’d better get going, don’t you think?” He scrambled out of the living room, squirming under her gaze. He took his plate and sent a beaming smile in Tony’s direction.

Dinner went well, until Natasha cleared her throat near the end.

“Hey, Tony. Did you know that Pete over there has a field trip this Monday?”

The table went silent.

“Peter? Do you have something to tell them?” She smirked and batted her eyes, rested her head on her upturned palm, elbow on the table.

“I hate you so much right now, Natasha,” he muttered under his breath. Then, louder, he said, “On Monday, we’re coming to Stark Industries. Yay.” He did dramatic jazz hands with a pouting face.

Clint was the first to laugh. The others soon joined, even Natasha and Bucky cracked a smile.

Peter bared his fangs at the group, but all it did was make Bucky pat his head like he was petting a cat. He pouted. Why was his family like this?

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

The week went by quickly. Peter kept his head down, but remnants of his time in the facility stayed with him. His posture was too tight, too rigid. His eyes were hard, and his jaw constantly tenses. Ned and MJ shared worried looks when they thought Peter couldn’t see, but he noticed everything these days.

Flash pushed him around, like always. But this time, he targeted Peter specifically. He called out demeaning taunts in the hallways or crossed the cafeteria to push him to the ground.

May signed the field trip permission slip the day before, but Peter hadn’t thought about that since his second talk with Bruce. He had found a way to deprogram Peter without the pain.

“You ready to go, bud?” Tony asked as they boarded the quinjet.

He nodded.

May and Tony sat on either side of him during the flight. They held his hands and wiped away his silent tears as they streamed down his face.

Wakanda was a beautiful sight. It was too bad that Peter couldn’t focus on it; May and Tony had removed their hands from his grip as his fangs slid out. He barely registered it. Everything else was blurry, the sounds were dulled. The metallic taste of the jet was all encompassing, and he couldn’t get away.

The quinjet touched down.

A metal hand touched his shoulder, and he reacted on instinct. He jumped up to the ceiling and crouched, fangs bared and webs attached to the hand. He pulled, but the metal hand didn’t move. That didn’t make sense.  _ Spider-Man _ was strong, stronger than the average superhuman, so what could resist his webs?

Wait- he was not  _ Spider-Man _ . He was Peter. He detached the web.

Bucky caught him when he dropped and carried him out of the jet. He didn’t react to the tears soaking through his shirt.

The next thing Peter saw, actually _ saw _ , was a lab. Then a girl about his age, staring down at him.

“H-hello?” he asked, voice croaky.

“Hello, broken white boy,” she smirked. The look on her face reminded him of Gwen. “How are you doing?”

He sat up from the cushioned table, and his head pounded. “I have no idea.”

“Peter,” Tony called from the stairs, “you’re up. You ready for this?”

He slowly nodded, but his eyes stayed on the girl. She fiddled with her bracelet as she looked him up and down, and he couldn’t help the shiver that traveled up his spine. Yeah, he decided, she was too much like Gwen.

“Call me Shuri, Spider-Geek.”

She smiled, showed all her teeth, and Peter knew instantly that he liked her. He allowed himself a small smile back.

“Let’s do this,” Peter said.

-+-

Peter chose the name Silver Spider. He kept it in his head for a few days before telling Cosmic and Mayday, so when he finally unveiled it, he was sure of it.

_ “What about Silver? Silver Spider?” _ he said into the darkness.

Gwen and Harry tightened their embrace around him.

“That sounds great, Pete,” Gwen whispered.

-+-

It was Sunday. The deprogramming took two days, but Peter hadn’t woken up.

May and Tony sat at his side since he went under, Shuri’s tinkering a now familiar sound. She got restless as time went on. She knew her deprogramming technology had worked, but she was starting to doubt herself.

Then, around noon, Peter whimpered.

Shuri leaped over her lab table to get to his bed before the adults could. She quickly took his vitals. They were good, steady, everything was in order. She smiled.

“He’s okay, Stark.”

-+-

The nightmares during his first deprogramming were diverse. He knew he was in a dream, but that didn’t make any of it better, not when he had to go through… this.

His fangs sunk into the nurse’s arm.

The taste of blood flooded his mouth, and he loved it. He bit down harder. The scream that the man let out bounced around  _ Spider-Man _ ’s head. Glas echoed over it, overshadowed it.

“Kill efficiently, Spider-Man, and you will always win. All you are is a weapon for Hydra, and Hydra will have the best weapons. So make them scream, Spider-Man.”

He did.

Hands clawed at him, but he paid them no mind. All his focus was fixed on the pulse he heard fading away in the man’s body. His job was close to done.

There. There it was. Silence. The heart had stopped. He let go.

Instantly there were hands on him, pulling him away. He let them move him. His mission was done, so he shut down. Glas would be there soon to save him. Glas would let him room with Mayday or Cosmic, and everything would be back to normal.  _ Spider-Man _ did well.

The nightmare switched.

He stood in the street, blood covering his hands. Sirens came closer. Tears ran down his face, but he couldn’t move. More hands touched him, pulled him. More hands.

He looked down, blinked away the tears.

His Uncle Ben laid across the ground in front of him. Oh, that was where the blood came from.

The sorrow crawled up his throat. He sobbed. His knees hit the concrete below with a crack, but he didn't feel it. Everything was red.

-+-

Peter looked up at the sky with wide eyes.

“Why does this happen to me?” he asked the clouds. They didn’t respond, but Flash did.

“Because you’re pathetic, Penis.”

MJ scoffed. “That’s ironic coming from you, Eugene.” She lifted the side of her mouth in her version of a smile. “Now get into line,  _ alternate _ .” Ned gawked up at her. She shrugged and turned her attention back to the teacher.

They waited in front of Midtown for the bus to pick them up as Mr. Cobwell droned on about field trip student conduct.

The bus arrived. Peter’s heart dropped in his chest.

And so it began.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dreaded field trip has started...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no read? Sorry about that, but here's a longer chapter without any flash backs :)

The bus ride to the Tower was long, and Peter counted the minutes as his heart beat out a staccato. Ned’s neverending chatter was helpful in bating off bad thoughts, but Peter couldn’t shake the memories of the last time he had a field trip, the AcaDec trip to DC. He hoped this one would pass without anything big, though a voice in the back of his mind said otherwise. 

MJ offered him a smirk as Flash called back from the front of the bus, insulting and sneering as usual.

After what felt like forever to Peter, the bus came to a stop. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, but Ned’s gentle fingers pried them back open with a smile. He took a deep breath to calm himself.

“Come on, losers,” MJ drawled, “let’s go take a tour.”

She swept her arm towards the doors of the bus, where the class was tumbling out of one by one. Ned went first, followed by a reluctant Peter. MJ brought up the rear, a comforting presence at Peter’s back.

He could do this, right?

As Peter walked into the building he called home, Flash pulled up to his side, his smirk sharp.

“Hey, Penis,” he sneered, “ready to get kicked off the Decathlon team? ‘Cause that’s what will happen when Harrison finds out about all your lies.”

Peter bristled subconsciously, nails digging into his palms, but before he could retort, Mr. Cobwell called their attention from the front of the group.

“Alright, class,” he started and gestured to his right where a familiar woman stood, “this is Ava. She will be our tour guide today, and I expect you to treat her with all the respect you can.”

She smiled and clapped her hands once. “Hello, class! As you just heard, my name is Ava. I am one of SI’s head interns in the legal department, and I will be taking you around the Tower today!”

She lead them out of the doorway and through the crowd of bustling businessmen. Peter ducked behind Ned and MJ and tried to make himself smaller, something he was rather good at he thought. Ava stopped the class at the receptionist’s desk.

“June!” Ava greeted with a grin. She proceeded to have a whispered conversation with the receptionist that he blocked out.

Peter groaned into Ned’s back, forehead against the shirt. MJ shot him a look and he tipped his head up, trying to meet her eyes. “This trip is gonna kill me. I’m going to know everyone.”

He knew June and Ava; how could he not? Ava had met him while he was doing intern stuff on the lower R&D floors, and June was the regular receptionist. June had seen him through lots of bad days.

He ducked further behind Ned.

“Okay,” Ava clapped again. “I will call your name one by one to give you your IDs. Please keep your badges on at  _ all _ times. If you do not, there will be consequences, but you won’t have any trouble if you follow the rules. Do you hear me? Good! Betty Brant?”

She called their names and they went up to get them, but something heavy curled up in Peter’s stomach. He had left his badge in his room thinking he wouldn’t need it. He had thought they would just print him a visitor badge, but what if they hadn’t? He took another deep breath to try to calm himself.

“Peter?” Ava asked, her voice curious. “Peter Parker?”

He stepped through his class, shoulders back as his heart jumped. Flash snickered from behind him.

“Hey, Ava,” he muttered. Then with a sharp pang of  _ something _ , he cleared his throat. He had to speak up or else he would get hurt. “Ava, how are you?”

Her face lit up. “Petey! I’m great, how are you? We haven’t seen you much recently. We were worried.”

“I’m okay. Can- can I get my badge?”

“Oh!” She draped it over his neck, adjusting until it was straight. “There you go. I’ll leave you alone now, for the time being.” She winked.

He felt his face turn red as he retreated to the back of his class. With his hands firmly in his hoodie pockets, he fought to keep his fangs in his gums. Flash’s taunts didn’t help.

“How’d she know you, Parker? You pay her? Oh, wait, I forgot; you would have to have money to do that. Maybe while you were pretending to be kidnapped, you got some money, huh? I wonder which immoral way you chose to get it.”

“Flash,” MJ said in her normal bored tone, “don’t you have anything better to do than accuse those smarter than you of stooping so low? If anything, I would worry about that Calculus grade of yours. If you don’t get that up, you’ll be the one succumbing to immoral methods of financial stability.”

Peter glanced up to see Flash’s expression turn to shock and… embarrassment? He hid a grin of his own.

Ava called the attention back to her. “Now we are going to go through security. Follow me. Make sure everything is out of your pockets, and put your bags on the conveyor. As you pass through the metal detector, scan your badge. Then you’re done!”

They did as asked, pulling their phones out of their pockets and loading their belongings into bins. As Cindy stepped through the metal detector and slid her ID against a panel, Friday’s voice rang out through the area, loud enough for the line to hear yet quiet enough to keep to the line.

“Cindy Moon, Visitor, Kappa clearance. Welcome.”

Peter hesitated at the metal detector. Mr. Cobwell gave him a measured look and gestured through. Peter closed his eyes quickly and shook out his hands, then he moved through the doorway, brushing his badge against the panel as he did so.

“Peter Parker, Classified, Alpha clearance. Welcome back, Peter. Boss has told me to tell you you left your lab in a mess last night. Would you like for me to respond?”

He froze, neck burning as his class stared, mouths open. “No, that’s okay, Fri.”

He ducked his head and positioned himself behind Ned once again, ignoring his classmates' questions as Ava tried wrangling them in. MJ stood beside him with a glare in Flash’s direction.

They hurried into the main elevator.

“Our first stop,” Ava said, “is to the lowest floor in Legal. We will see what the interns do and maybe get to speak to some of them.”

“Ava,” Flash called, and Peter groaned, “what does Alpha clearance mean?”

“I am glad you asked! Most of you have Kappa clearance, which is assigned to all visitors. It gives you just enough leeway to go where your guide is going and take the tours. Peter, here, has alpha clearance because he can go to every floor, and he has access to more classified projects. Alpha clearance basically means you can do anything in the Tower. All of the Avengers have it as well as Pepper Potts and high clearance individuals from Shield.”

Silence in the elevator.

Peter pushed back on the instinct to curl up in a ball on the ceiling, instead his eyes meeting Friday’s camera in the corner of the elevator.

“So,” Cindy asked slowly, “Peter has the highest clearance someone can? Does that mean he’s an intern here?”

“Well, I guess you could call him an intern,” she laughed. “But he’s more of a lab director, well, that is when he’s not up in Dr. Stark’s lab.”

More silence.

Peter could  _ feel _ Flash fuming.

The first floor they visited passed in a blur, with Peter between his two friends to stave off the stares. Luckily no one in Legal recognised him.

Then they were off to the museum where Tony kept all the sciency stuff that his storage couldn’t keep, also it housed old Avengers tech and information. Peter’s blood went cold at the mention of it. His wrists itched. Ned tightened his hold on Peter’s elbow, warmth seeping through his hoodie.

Ava gave them free roam of the large room lined with objects and weapons.

As soon as she was out of sight, heading towards the exhibit on Thor, Peter’s Spider Sense tingled. He huffed out a breath, resigned to his fate.

A hand grabbed his shoulder and yanked backwards, pulling him past the wall MJ and Ned had made between Peter and the class. He allowed himself to move with his controller, the hand on his shoulder jerking him to the ground as another came to grasp him by the front of his hoodie, and Flash’s face got close to his.

“How’d you do it, Penis? How did you convince that idiot of a tour guide that you work here? And why did that AI say you have that high clearance. Even if you  _ were _ an intern, which you’re not, you would not have Alpha. So what did you do?” 

He shook Peter violently, and it took every ounce of mental strength to stop Peter from reacting in the way Glas taught him to. Maybe that's why he didn’t hear the footsteps until it was too late.

Flash’s face was gone from his in an instant, leaving Peter gasping for breath, on the edge of a panic attack.

There were screams.

Peter caught his breath and looked up.

Flash was caught by the lapels of his shirt and held above Peter by a metal hand.

“Bucky,” he sighed. He pushed himself to his feet and leaned on Ned’s shoulder, legs shaky. “Let him go, please.”

He stepped forward, towards the fiery eyes of the assassin.

“The Target has attacked the Ally,” he grunted. “He must be punished.”

_ This _ Peter understood, the need to protect yet distance himself from the situation. He took another step towards the man’s side. He set his hand on Bucky’s metal arm.

“The Target has been contained,” he let his voice fall into the familiar monotone. “The Ally is secure and the Soldier will stand down.”

A beat of silence, then Bucky was lowering a shaking Flash to the ground and turning to Peter with a blank face. Peter felt a stab of guilt, but he pushed it away. It wasn’t a trigger for Bucky, talking to him like that; it was the preferable way to deal with the black and white way Bucky saw situations, yet it still made Peter’s heart hurt, even when he knew Bucky was okay with it.

“Report, Barnes,” he demanded.

“Stark sent the Soldier to check on Silver when he swiped into the building. The Soldier found the situation and dealt with it.”

Peter nodded and went to address him again, but his senses tingled slightly.

Ned approached Peter slowly, face tinged with a bit of fear. “Peter, um, you might want to look around.”

“What?”

He did as told and froze. His whole class, including Mr. Cobwell and Ava, stared at him with a mix of horror and awe. He fought to keep his fangs at bay as blood rushed to his cheeks.

“Oh.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good? Bad? Tell me!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flash is a bad guy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in an hour? Witchcraft!

The eyes on him burned into his skin, and he took a shuddering step back. Bucky tugged him behind him until his body was covering Peter’s from view. He took the time to close his eyes and breathe.

“Buck,” he whispered, knowing he’d be heard, “get Tony and tell him what’s happening. Now.”

With one last glance, Bucky left the room, leaving Peter with the group of clamoring students and two adults. He focused on Ned and MJ, heard their steady hearts, as he stepped up.

“You have questions,” he stated calmly. “If you ask then one by one, I might answer them.”

Hands went up immediately.

“Betty.”

“Was that the Winter Soldier? Like the one who’s evil and killed a bunch of people?”

He flinched slightly. “That was Bucky Barnes, yes. But his past actions were influenced heavily by Hydra, a terrorist organization. He was brainwashed into doing what they told him to do.”

He pointed to Abe.

“Do you know the Wint- I mean, do you know Bucky Barnes personally?”

“Yes. Cindy?”

“Why did he attack Flash like that?”

“Because Flash attacked me. Yes, Sally?”

“What’s  _ really _ going on, Peter?”

He paused.

“Well, most of it is classified, but the parts I can tell you you’ve seen by now. I am Tony Stark’s personal intern. I have met and made friends with all of the Avengers, including Bucky, as you just saw. I haven’t lied about anything today. Remember when I was missing? Hydra took me, and the Avengers got me back. That’s all that you need to know.”

Then, as if the universe was watching him and wanted to spite him, the lights cut out. Screams once again rang through the room.

Peter, despite his Spidey Sense screaming at him, reacted calmly. He pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight, directing it to the huddled mass of freaked out students.

“Everybody safe?”

Ava took stock of her group. “We should be. Peter, what’s going on? Is this planned?”

“No,” he said, and there were muffled cries from his class. “But I need you all to stay calm. We will get out of this safely if you follow me. Come on!”

He turned to the elevator and jogged up to the panel beside it.

“Friday? You there?”

No response.

“Dammit. Okay, change of plans. Ava, do you know the layout of this floor? Good. Which way is the panic room?”

She took charge and lead them out of the large room, the opposite direction of the elevators. Peter used the distraction to slip his web shooters on discreetly. Ava took them to a long hallway, and more students took out their phones to light it as the overhead lights didn’t come back on.

“Peter,” Ned whispered as they walked, “how can Friday go out? And shouldn’t there be a backup generator for the lights?”

“Yeah.” He left it, frown forming.

Ava stopped at a doorway. “Pete, here we are.”

She tried to open the door, pressing her badge to the sensor, and Peter braced himself for what he would do next.

“Ava, Friday is down, which means the door won’t open on its own. Step back please.” He marched up to the door and took a deep breath. With a jerk of his arm, he managed to pry the door open, the metal bending slightly as he did so. “Get in, now.”

They ran in as he told them to, but he saw that they gave him a wide berth with wide eyes.

He closed the door shut behind him, forcing it into place with a burst of strength.

When he looked to the class, back up against the metal of the door, they stared back, fear clear in their expressions.

“Dammit,” he said, for the second time that day. “Okay, let’s do questions again. Hands?”

As one, the class’ hands shot up.

“Sally?”

“Did you just bend metal without trying?”

“Yes, I did. Abe?”

“Are you Spider-Man?”

He flinched, and his posture straightened out, eyes hard. He turned back to the door. “Not anymore.”

More silence, then--

“Flash, you’ve been bullying Spider-Man.” And then everything was okay again for the class.

“Abe,” Peter interrupted their chatter, eyes still focused on metal, “how did you guess?”

“I- uh, I saw the suit in your backpack one day after AcaDec practice, but I brushed it off because it was almost Halloween. I should have thought about it more carefully. May I ask what you mean by ‘not anymore?’”

He reached out and touched the door, the metal cool to his overheated palm. “After Hydra kidnapped me and tortured me,” he laughed mirthlessly, “I gave up that title. I’m not him anymore, so no more Spider-Man.”

“But,” Cindy started, “Queens needs Spider-Man. You can’t just stop being a hero, Peter.”

“I know, which is why even though I’m not  _ him _ , I can be somebody else. This was supposed to wait until the press conference, but I guess I can tell you now. I mean, we’re not going anywhere for awhile, right?”

He turned to them and met their eyes, taking in their more relaxed posture and curious faces. He slid to the ground and gestured for them to do the same. With a smile, he started explaining.

“While I was with Hydra, I chose a new name. The Silver Spider. It was the only thing that got me through it all, the promise of a new name, a new life. They had turned the name  _ Spider-Man _ into a trigger, nailed it into my mind to control me. Then my family rescued me, and with time I got back to normal.

“But I’m not Spider-Man anymore. I can’t be. Not after what they did to me. Now I am the Silver Spider. I hope that doesn’t let you down too much.”

The lights flickered back on then, and Peter let out a breath he hadn’t known he had been holding.

“Underoos!” Tony’s voice came through Friday’s speakers. “You okay? We couldn’t get through to you after the villain of the week decided to attack the Tower. Did you get your class to safety?”

He grinned and leaned back against the door, letting his head hit the metal. “Yeah, Mr. Stark. We’re safe. But, uh, we might have to activate Protocol Cat Out of the Bag. Sorry about that.”

A beat of held breath from Peter.

“That’s okay, kid. Pepper will take care of it for us. Now, where’d you guys hole up for the fight?”

Ava took over the instructions for Tony to retrieve them from the panic room, and Peter let himself look over his Chemistry class.

Mr. Cobwell was white in the face, probably from all the revelations of the day and the adrenaline leaving him. The students also looked tired, but there was a spark in their eyes that wasn’t there while they were panicking. Peter’s eyes fell onto Flash, and his Spidey Sense tingled almost violently. He saw why quickly.

Flash’s phone was angled purposefully towards Peter, like he was  _ recording _ him. Peter sucked in a breath. All attention was on him as his vision locked on the camera.

His classmates followed his line of sight and sprung to action.

Abe tackled Flash to the ground as Cindy pried his fingers off the silver case. She held it away from the struggling boy and glanced down. Her face went pale as the blood drained from it.

“Peter,” she whispered, “he was live streaming.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more and we're done!

**Author's Note:**

> Love it? Hate it? Tell me what you think!


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